Excessive water in buildings causes primary damage for example due to wetting from a flood, escape of water or ingress of water. Further secondary damage can also occur resulting in further problems for example through growth of mould and onset of rot, tarnishing, corrosion caused by the moisture. In order to avoid such damage action should be taken to dry or remove excess water/moisture as soon as possible.
Typically the affected area may be heated and/or provided with dehumidifying means so as to enable drying. This can be timely and costly. Large scale drying such as due to flooding may be undertaken by specialist companies using industrial equipment; however drying can still take weeks or even months before reinstatement work can begin.
Often particular areas need to be targeted for drying, such as floor coverings or floorboards or concrete. Some specialist matting aids are used to target certain areas, however the mats must typically be secured in place and rely on pipe work which can be difficult to arrange and typically requires a suction/vacuum process.
Some methods of drying involve inflatable devices; however these can be liable to damage and therefore unsuitable for some situations. Other methods of drying require areas to be targeted to be isolated for example being enclosed in a tent or by sealing the building but such options may not always be viable, can be costly and may not significantly accelerate drying.
Often drying systems limit and/or restrict access to the area being dried therefore delaying other activities such as repair. Additionally many known prior art devices only allow escape for wet air at the periphery hence drying is therefore uneven and the devices may need to be moved round at intervals during the drying process thus adding additional steps to the drying process.
The present invention provides a constant supply of drying air across the drying area to accelerate and target drying in a controlled manner.